To mark its 60th anniversary Dicksons will hold the show at South Shields Musuem and Art Gallery.

Curators at the museum are dipping into the Dickson’s family archives of photos and company literature to produce an interactive exhibition that will allow visitors to explore the history of one of South Tyneside’s most successful family businesses.

The exhibition will feature a selection of memories of former employees, customers new and old, plus interviews with members of the Dickson family who were only small children when the business started back in 1953 and merely teenagers when they were left in charge of the burgeoning business following the sudden death of their parents.

Dicksons’ famous Saveloy Dip will take a starring role with bosses at the company sharing their secrets on what makes the perfect dip and looking at the routes of this iconic South Tyneside delicacy.

Michael Dickson, managing director of Dicksons and son of its founder, said: “There are many parts of the business today that are totally unrecognisable from 60 years ago but there are some fundamental elements that will never change.

“Despite serving 22 shops and providing our products to all of the major supermarkets, we remain committed to the same family values that Dicksons was originally built upon.

“Our staff, all 218 of them, are genuinely part of an extended family; many have been with us for numbers of years and others are the children of long serving and former employees. I think it is these family values that have set us apart from other businesses in our field which have come and gone.”